Eternity Blues
by nytecat
Summary: In Eternity, some drink to remember, some drink to forget.


**ETERNITY BLUES**

_Author's note: Had a dream about this last night and it haunted my thoughts throughout the day. For some peace of mind, I decided to write a story from it._

It was a slow night in Eternity. Matriarch Aethyta wiped down the bar briskly with a rag while keeping an ear cocked for trouble. She need not to have bothered, the natives were strangely subdued this evening. Even the drunken revelry of a group of humans enjoying the performance of an exotic dancer was low key.

The asari flipped the rag over her shoulder and surveyed the lounge. Her partner, Kasurina, was chatting up a trio of turians at the other end of the bar. Kasurina kept stroking chest of the leader of the group, coquettishly looking up at him beneath her eyelashes.

Aethyta sneered at the young asari's blatant attempt of sucking up for tips. Then shook her head at herself. Well, she could not blame her partner. Aethyta had been a maiden herself too and she had done far worse than Kasurina at her age.

She glanced around and marked several regulars whose drinks would need refilling soon. Aethyta was making a second survey of Eternity when her eyes locked on an asari who was not a regular.

The asari was young – very young – yet there was a melancholic air about her. She sat at the end of the bar, nursing a glass of expensive Thessian wine. A green high-collared gown with white trim complimented the maiden's pale blue skin. The maiden had chosen to sit at a place where she could see most of Eternity and the coming and goings of all its visitors.

For reasons unknown, Aethyta felt drawn to that stranger.

Overcome by curiosity, Aethyta wandered over towards the stranger, removing the rag from her shoulder and winding it around her hands as she walked. When she got to the stranger, she pulled out a glass tumbler out from under the counter and under the pretense of cleaning it, she scrutinized the maiden further.

There was a sweetness to the maiden's face that starkly contrasted with the wary way she held herself. The young asari stared deeply into her drink as if it held all the answers to the universe.

"Some drink to remember. Some drink to forget. What are you in here for, honey?" Aethyta inquired jovially, wiping the glass in her hands with the cloth.

At Aethyta's words, the maiden looked up. Not startled but guarded. The fluid way that she moved and how she assessed Aethyta with a swift glance gave the matriarch the strong impression that this young one had seen battle. Was she an ex-commando mercenary? Aethyta wondered.

The maiden had clear sapphire eyes that burnt with a fierce intelligence. Her face was impassive, no tightening of her full lavender lips, no twitch of the cheek, no clenching of the jaw. By the Goddess, the girl could give a quarian lessons on how to keep a poker face.

Evidently, the maiden reached the conclusion that Aethyta was not a threat. The guarded look faded in her eyes, leaving a cool aloofness behind.

The asari seemed to consider Aethyta's question. An eyebrow cocked in amusement and she smiled down at her drink.

"Maybe a bit of both," she finally answered softly.

She spoke in cultured tones, letting each word ring clearly like crystal. The beauty of her voice was marred by quiet despair. Aethyta smirked. Maidens. They thought every decade was a galaxy-shaking crisis. Let them live several hundred years and then they would really know what true despair was.

"Look around, babe. Everyone's got a story here. See that turian and quarian over there? The turian has been trying to get into the quarian's suit for the last three weeks. Heh. Poor sob. I could tell him that he is wasting his time," Aethyta responded, whipping the rag on the counter for emphasis. "I'm Matriarch Aethyta by the way."

The maiden nodded in greeting but did not offer her own name in return. Aethyta was not insulted in the least. This was Illium after all. Everyone had secrets. If the maiden wanted to remain anonymous, that was fine by Aethyta. Saved the matriarch the trouble of remembering the names of all her customers.

"Hey, want to hear a joke?"

The sudden change in conversation did not faze the maiden. Aethyta got the sudden gut feeling that little did. It made her even more curious about the maiden's story.

The maiden gave an eloquent shrug. Even that small movement seemed to take a lot out of her. "Why not? I could use a laugh."

Out of the corner of her eye, Aethyta saw a salarian regular signal for a refill. The matriarch excused herself to oblige and when she had returned, the maiden looked at her in anticipation.

"A human man walks into a bar. The bartender asks, 'What will you have?' The man replies, 'I want the deed to your bar.' The bartender says, 'Like hell.' Just then a human woman comes in and shoots the man in the foot. BAM!"

There was a long silence as the maiden absorbed the joke. Her eyes shadowed with puzzlement as Aethyta could see the maiden turn the story in her mind like a puzzle. After several moments, she seemed vexed that she could not find a trace of humour in it. She glared accusingly at the matriarch as if she suspected that she was being made the butt of the joke.

Aethyta held up her hands defensively.

"True story and it happened just like that," the matriarch continued, chuckling deeply in her throat. "Ah, it always brings a big smile to my kisser when I remember it."

Which was true. Aethyta could not stop smiling with evil glee. That human man had squealed like a varren being gelded by a blunt knife.

The glare in her eyes faded and the maiden shook her head slightly.

"I guess it's one of those times when you have to be there," she said politely. She paused and a shadow darkened her eyes. "I'm not too good at understanding humour, I'm afraid."

That small admission seemed to embarrass the maiden. She quickly quaffed her drink and gestured for a refill. Aethyta turned around, found the canter and poured the maiden a glass.

Aethyta rambled on as she worked. In her experience, if you kept on talking, sooner or later your customers would open up. It was like her father always said: pepper an enemy's shields enough and you will break through. The matriarch was not sure why she was so driven to learn more about this particular maiden in front of her.

"I don't know what I would have done to that human man if that woman hadn't come along. Probably slap his ass with a singularity," Aethyta commented. She folded up her cleaning rag and put under the counter. "Would have lost my job but it would have been worth it."

The matriarch snorted at the thought, shaking her head slightly. She pulled out a bottle of brandy and a glass from under the counter. She poured herself two fingers' worth in a tumbler. She leaned against the bar lazily as she took a deep drink.

"There was something about that human woman though. She had a fire in her eyes that would put most krogan to shame," she mused. "Had a nice ass too. Oh, if only I was four centuries younger," Aethyta murmured salaciously to herself, unaware that the maiden was still listening to her.

"Sounds like a human I know," the maiden replied with a small fond grin.

The matriarch laughed uproariously, slapping a hand on the counter. "Humans, huh? Always so impulsive. Rushing around. Acting like they owned the galaxy. But they're big heroes now. Saved the Citadel and those blind fools in the Council."

At the mention of the Citadel Siege, the maiden looked down at her wine glass. She seemed uncomfortable. Perhaps she had lost a friend in the attack, Aethyta mused as she watched the maiden compose herself.

The maiden took a sip of wine before replying.

"I used to think the same about humans until I got to know one of them." Oddly, she stumbled over the last part. She recovered quickly and continued on. "She opened my eyes to the good and bad side of humanity."

Aethyta studied the maiden over the rim of her drink. There had been a bitter mixture of sorrow and remorse in the young asari's voice when she spoke of her human friend. No one sounded like that unless they had lost someone dear to them.

"Oh, I'm not criticizing the species, honey," the matriarch hurriedly assured the maiden. "We asari could learn a few things from them. Look at how much they accomplish in their short lifetimes. Thirty years ago, we never even knew humans existed. Now, they're everywhere like damn vorcha."

Unexpectedly, the direction of the conversation seemed to rile the maiden up. Her head snapped up from her drink and the fury that blazed in her eyes surprised the matriarch.

"Many humans lost their lives defending the Citadel."

Aethyta took a drink, feeling the amber liquid burn her throat on the way down. The maiden had taken personal offence at her thoughtless comparison of humans with vorcha. The matriarch had the deepening suspicion that the young asari had had a human lover.

"From galactic news, the Alliance Navy only defended the Citadel because they were ordered to by that human Spectre's orders…what was her name, again?" Aethyta replied. She scratched her brow, trying to summon the name from memory.

As suddenly as it had appeared, the fury in the maiden's eyes abated. She looked askance. Her hands clenched the stem of the glass as if she was hanging from a cliff's edge.

"Commander Shepard," the young asari supplied softly. There was an almost indiscernible strain in her voice when she said the name. "Her name was Shepard."

The maiden raised her gaze from her drink to stare challengingly at Aethyta.

"You want to know what was wrong with the asari race, matriarch?" the maiden asked. "You want to know why we can't match the humans in their passions, their achievements? It's how we view the galaxy and issues at hand."

The matriarch leaned forward, nodding in silent encouragement for the maiden to continue. This should be good, she thought to herself.

"Sometimes when you take the long view, you don't see what's right there in front of you," the maiden said quietly. She paused, seemed to be searching for the words or pulling free from some dark, deep memory. "And before you know it, it's gone."

Aethyta smiled. She raised her tumbler to the maiden in a toast. "You, my girl, are wise beyond your years. If only other maidens could be more like you," she told her.

The maiden looked embarrassed and shyly glanced down at her drink. The shyness was gone in a moment. She was steel again. "I…I did not have a normal upbringing like other maidens."

"Well, whoever your mother was, she raised you well," Aethyta replied. She drained her drink and the maiden followed suit.

The maiden looked down at her empty glass. She fingered its surface. "My mother was a strong woman. Without her, I wouldn't be who I am today."

"Let's have a toast then to your mother," the matriarch suggested as she poured a finger of brandy into the maiden's wine glass. She poured herself another serving of branding.

They raised their drinks, clinked their glasses together and quaffed the brandy down. The maiden blinked away the tears in her eyes and discretely cleared her throat. She looked like she was not used to drinking hard liquor. Aethyta wanted to laugh but instead gave the maiden an approving smile. She was a good kid.

"Goddess, it feels really good to actually have an intelligent conversation for once," the matriarch said. "Usually I have to deal with sleazy pick-up lines from drunken batarians."

The maiden smiled and then looked surprised that she did. "It was good being able to chat with you. It has been a long time since I had been able to be so…open…with my feelings." Her omni tool beeped and she checked it. "I'm sorry I have to go. There is a matter that requires my urgent attention."

"This is Eternity, kid," Aethyta replied. "I'll be here."

The young asari nodded warmly to that but the matriarch could see that her mind was elsewhere. A dramatic transformation sweep over her. The aura of melancholy was replaced by a cold demeanor. Her blue eyes chilled, shining with a predatory gleam.

Without another word, the maiden left Eternity. Aethyta watched her leave, trying to make sense of this ominous feeling that welled up in her. She shook her head, dispelling the sensation. Whatever the maiden's business was, the matriarch did not want to be on the receiving end of it.


End file.
